The Last Dance
by Eldunari Liduen
Summary: The Doctor knew this day was coming... but it still didn't quite feel real. Set after the Doctor takes River to the Singing Towers of Darilliumum.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own **_**Doctor Who**_** or any of the characters therein.**

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><p>"See you soon, sweetie," a voice says from behind the Doctor as he uses a well-worn key to open the doors to the TARDIS.<p>

Not trusting himself to turn around and face her, he smiles sadly at the bronze door handle and whispers a simple "Goodbye, River," and steps inside. With a small sigh, he takes off his top hat and places it on the coat rack by the door along with his new suit jacket bought just for the occasion. Climbing the stairs to the console with less bounce in his step than usual, the Doctor throws a switch, wobbles the wibbly leaver, and presses two green buttons. As the TARDIS enters the Time Vortex, he takes a seat, placing his head in his hands trying not to think what the next few days will bring one Professor River Song, the woman who married the Doctor.

"Doctor?" a very Scottish voice comes from the hallway leading away from the main console room.

Turning his head, the Doctor sees his faithful companion, Amelia Pond, still dressed in her white nightgown and robe.

"Hello Amy," he says, making eye contact just for a moment before he looks away, eyes downcast.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" she asks as she comes to stand beside him.

"Nothing. I'm fine, really," he says with a half-hearted neutral tone and a lopsided smile. He stands to make a show of checking something on the monitor.

Behind his back, the red headed Scot rolls her eyes knowingly. "Well, if you won't tell me what happened, at least tell me where you two went."

The Doctor pauses before answering. The location would mean nothing to Amy, he had never told her. But it meant so much to him…

"The Singing Towers of Darilliumum."

"Sounds nice. Did you two have fun?" she asks, standing next to him.

The Doctor gives a small chuckle. "Of course."

"No civilizations to rescue this time, then?"

"No, I made sure this time."

"Oh, what's the fun in that?" Amy teases him, bumping into The Doctor's side as the TARDIS makes its signature landing sound.

"Amy…" the Doctor says, turning to face her, "there's someplace I need to go, but I need you and Rory to stay inside the TARDIS. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, sure," Amy says, giving him a skeptical look. "Why?"

"I need you to trust me on this Amelia Pond," the Doctor says, looking her strait in the eyes and taking her hands. "I can't- can't bring you with me this time."

"Right. I won't follow you. Cross my heart," Amy says, giving the Doctor a small smile. "Just don't get emotional, eh?"

"Of course," he says, the words just barely making a sound as he drops her hands and makes his way to the door. "I'll be back soon."

As soon as the doors shut behind the Doctor, Amy runs off shouting, "Rory! I need you for something!"

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><p>With his back to the Library, the Doctor slowly turns his old gold key in the lock, securing the TARDIS.<p>

"Doctor!" an old, familiar voice says from behind him. "There you are! We were wondering where you had-" The balding man stops short as the Doctor turns around.

"Hello Mr. Lux."

"Sorry… who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. Later than when you saw me last."

"No, that's impossible," Lux chuckles. "You look nothing like him!"

"Not impossible, just a bit unlikely," the Doctor smiles. "I fed the chicken in your salads to the Vashta Nerada."

"But-"

"I have a time machine and I'm a Time Lord. Surely the Library had some book on Time Lords? Regeneration?"

"I… see. I think. So does that mean-?"

"Yes, I know who she is now. I've had nearly a lifetime to find out, too."

"But she's-"

"I know…. I know," the Doctor says, his voice cracking slightly. He looks Lux in the eye. "But not quite."

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><p><strong>AN: I'm not quite done with this story yet, don't worry! I had an idea about halfway through writing this (namely Amy making Rory go after the Doctor) and it's going to be longer than I thought it was going to be so I decided to split it into two (maybe three depending on how this goes) parts.**

**Reviews are always welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own **_**Doctor Who**_** or any of the characters therein.**

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><p>"Amy, is this sensible?"<p>

"What do you think?"

"No."

Amy rolls her green eyes and gives her husband a peck on the cheek. "You know what happens when he gets emotional. Please, Rory?" she asks, smiling softly at him.

Rory sighs. "Oh, alright. Just this once, though."

"You know that's not true," Amy gins. "Now, come on. Off with you then! I want you both back here in one piece, is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

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><p>"And there… we… go! Ha!" the Doctor shouts triumphantly from the control console as circular bands of blue light begin to emanate from the floor. "Forgot how I did that before for a moment there."<p>

"Then how long exactly…?" Mr. Lux asks in confusion.

"Oh, quite some time, Luxy boy." The Doctor saunters over to the now active grav lift, tucking his sonic screwdriver in a pocket. "Now, is everyone out? All the patrons returned to their home worlds?"

"I was just about to do one last scan- double check. Tell me Doctor, will it ever be safe to come back?"

"Oh, not for another millennia or so, really. 'Course by that time a whole new danger may crop up here. Best to keep it sealed off, I'd say." He pauses. Looks down. "But perhaps the odd visitor in an old-new blue box…"

"Who was she? To you I mean."

"If I remember correctly, I believe you said it yourself Mr. Lux," he smiles, stepping through the light and onto the platform waiting to take him to the core of the planet.

"Geronimo."

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><p>Rory prods the platform with the toe of his trainers. Sure it <em>looked<em> stable… sort of…but he didn't have the best track record when it came to lifts.

_Why can't we just ever take the stairs?_ He thinks to himself as he slowly circles what is supposedly going to take him to the Doctor. _It's never that simple with him, is it?_ He mentally sighs.

Ever so carefully, Rory places one foot and then the other on the lift. Slowly (_mercifully_) it begins to descend.

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><p>The central hub of the Library's computer system is deserted, lit only by the pulsing light of the sophisticated hard drive built with a twofold purpose, the foremost being keeping a little girl alive with the whole of history and fiction to keep her company. A slight <em>click<em> signals that the door has been unlocked and a _hiss_ announces that someone has entered the room while a sonic _whirr_ affirms that the Doctor has arrived.

Satisfied that there are no Vashta Nerada waiting in these shadows, the Doctor makes his way to the control station. Every so slowly, as if it pains him to do so, he types a command into the computer. His pointer finger hovers over the enter key.

From the corner of his eye, the Doctor spots a pair of handcuffs hanging from a vertical support beam. The very pair that held him back so many years ago, yet not so many years ago. Funny how these things worked.

With a deep breath, the Doctor presses down the 'enter' key.

He steps back from the console, straitens his bow tie, and faces the main information node. Slowly, but surely, it turns to face him.

Slowly, but surely, a face comes into view.

"Hi honey. I'm home."

"And what sort of time do you call this?"

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><p><strong>AN- I'm just going to apologize for the next chapter now because I know that I'm going to cry just _writing_ it.**

**Reviews, as always, are appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own **_**Doctor Who**_** or any of the characters therein. And I'm going to warn you that I teared up while writing this… and again proofreading it the next day.**

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><p><em>No.<em>

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><p>"So, where are we then?" River asks, attempting to downplay the situation.<p>

"I just dropped you back off at Stormcage… after the Singing Towers." The Doctor has trouble meeting River's eyes as they watch him from the information node.

"And you knew," River says. Not accusingly. Not judging. Not reprimanding. She just says.

The Doctor licks his lips as if they were chapped. "Yeah. I did."

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><p><em>But… what? No- why?<em>

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><p>"Then why?" Still not judging.<p>

"Because this was the first time I met you, River. If I hadn't met you here… If your message hadn't gone wibbly… We would never had met."

"What about Messaline? The Angels?"

He smiles slightly, still not meeting her eyes. "First thing you said to me here?"

"'Hello, sweetie.'"

"Only reason I knew it was you."

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><p><em>What does he mean? How- why- how could he let this…? No… But maybe…<em>

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><p>"So how long do you think it will take you then, sweetie? Cal's upped the firewalls and defenses since you were here last- didn't want to take the chance that the Vashta Nerada would start having a taste for circuitry. Bit of a farfetched idea if you ask me, but that's what you get when a child-"<p>

"I can't," he says suddenly, interrupting her before she can go much further.

River blinks in surprise. "What do you mean- 'can't'?"

The Doctor stares at his feet, rubbing his cheek with his hand. "I mean I can't save you. Not this time."

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><p><em>But he always saves everyone. Even me. Even when-<em>

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><p>"Why not?" A slight accusation. Not harsh, but enough to make him flinch.<p>

Finally working up the courage, the Doctor looks River in the eyes. "Because you're… you. You're River Song. You're the child of the TARDIS."

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><p><em>But shouldn't that mean that he should be able to…?<em>

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><p>"The Library's programmed with information of all known living species and genetic patterns," The Doctor explains, moving to stand in front of the console once more. "Judoon, human, Raxacoricofallapatorian, Ood… But not Time Lord."<p>

"I don't-"

"And," he says, staring at the keyboard once more, "certainly not human plus Time Lord." His green eyes, a film of tears forming on them, flick back to River. "Do you understand?"

"No," a third voice says.

The Doctor jumps and then sighs. "Oh, Rory…"

Slowly, the Last Centurion walks over to the statue with his daughter's living face on it. The daughter he just barely knows.

"Doctor, what happened to her?" he asks, reaching up to touch River's face. "What happened to you?"

Biting his lower lip, the Doctor comes over and stands next to Rory. "There was a group of people. Brave people. They came here to the Library to see what went wrong 100 years ago. All they had was a data fragment. '4022 saved. No survivors.'"

"And I was their guide," River says. "Doctor of Archeology, remember Dad?"

"We found out that the library systems had literally saved them all- to the hard drive. But things got, well…."

"Complicated?" Rory says, his eyes never leaving his daughter.

"Yeah."

"And I saved them," River explains with a proud yet sad smile. "Let the computer borrow some extra space. Not exactly something you survive intact. And this _impossible_ man found a way to save me."

"Sort of."

"Well, you did just remember what to do given what you found but-"

"No," the Doctor says, fists tightening, "I only sort of saved you. I can't get you back." Whirling on one foot, he returns to the computer console and grips the edge, refusing to look at anyone. "Cal could save known genetic patterns. That's why everyone was able to be downloaded out of the hard drive. But only known ones. And you-"

"And I," River continues, now realizing what the Doctor is saying, "am not a known pattern. Human plus Time Lord. Not exactly what you'd call common."

"No," the Doctor whispers to no one in particular.

Rory simply stands, still looking at his beloved daughter, processing it all. A single tear rolls down his cheek.

"There's _nothing_ you can do?" he asks the Doctor, just slightly looking over his shoulder at the bowed and defeated figure at the computer console.

"No… I'm sorry. I'm so… so sorry." His grip tightens on the console as if it's the only thing keeping him sane. "Even if I tried to actualize what little the computer and sonic were able to save… She wouldn't survive. She's older than you think, Rory-"

"I _am_ still here, thank you."

"Even without regeneration, Time Lords live extraordinarily long lives. The Time Lord plus wouldn't translate and without that to stabilize her…"

"I wouldn't make it. I may live in a virtual reality, but it's life. I was taught never to give up on that."

"Who taught you that then?"

"Who do you think?" River says, looking at her love. The Doctor looks up, still struggling to keep control. River smiles at him. A smile of forgiveness. Of understanding. With a sniff, he goes to stand by Rory once more.

"Goodbye, River."

"Oh, it's not goodbye. I think you've still got a few more adventures to catch up on, sweetie." She winks at him. "Dad, look after him… and tell Mum… Tell her that I love her. I don't want her to know- she's been through so much with me already."

"'Course," Rory says. Standing on tiptoe, he gives his daughter a kiss on the cheek. With one more sad smile, he turns to go. "I'll- I'll just let you two alone. Need some time to think of something to tell Amy, anyways." The door soon _swoosh_es shut and the Doctor and the Professor are alone.

"I am sorry River. I wish-"

"I know." River licks her own lips. "And you're forgiven. Always and completely forgiven."

"So what will you do?"

"Oh, you know. All of history and fiction to live in. Think I might try the fantasy section for a while. There's a 21st century cycle I've always wanted to read. What about you, Doctor?"

"Oh, same old life," he says. Echoes of an all too similar conversation surface in his memory.

"Take care of yourself, sweetie."

"And you."

Standing on his own toes, the Doctor and River kiss. Not a passionate one as they were once wont to do, but a simple kiss of two people who know and love and understand each other possibly more than they do themselves. With one last smile, River's face melds back into the statue and she is gone.

The Doctor stands there alone, eyes closed and head bent.

_Why must it always end this way?_


End file.
